28/01/2014 Look East - East

Hello and welcome to Look East with Amelia and me.

The headlines from Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk: Mental health services

in turmoil tonight as the Trust which cares for vulnerable adults

faces a split. It's a summer to remember for the

region's busy lifeboat crews. Mounting frustration on the county

border as this road remains under flood water.

And it's back to the day job for the Queen in Norfolk today as

controversy erupts over her household finances.

Hello. The troubled mental health service

which covers Norfolk and Suffolk insisted today that clients would be

safe despite an upheaval in the organisation. 1,600 vulnerable

adults are to have part of their care switched from the NHS to

Norfolk county council: So how did it come to this?

Social care for adults aged between 18 to 65 suffering from mental

health issues was run by the County Council until six years ago when it

was taken over by the Norfolk Waveney Mental Health Trust. Four

years later it changed again. This time joining forces with Suffolk to

form the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust with an annual

budget of ?220 million. But almost immediately there were problems.

Savings of ?40 million were needed over four years. Jobs beds and

services have all been cut. Yesterday. Norfolk County Council

decided to pull the plug on the contract for social care a contract

worth ?4 million a year. And so we come full circle with the council

running the service again from September. The details from our

chief reporter Kim Riley. 19`year`old student told from

Norwich was diagnosed two years ago with a major depressive disorder. He

has made four attempts on his life. There are periods of absolute, as

Churchill said, a black dog follows me around. I am slower physically, I

can't think straight, and the whole world is dark. There are other

periods like now when everything is relatively OK. There are still some

problems, and the never go away, I have lots of them before that. And

eventually, hopefully, I will make a full recovery. Do you think you are

getting the support you need and what difference do you think these

changes made to make? You'll make the individual members of staff are

fantastic, they have never put a foot wrong. I do not think the

changes will make much difference, that is mostly because as far as I

am aware there will be no increase in funding. I do not feel my son is

cared about enough, he is an individual, a very sick individual

and I do not think that the quality of care reflects how sick he really

is. The union Unison says its members at the trust have already

been through a radical restructuring. We are there at the

sharp end trying to provide care, we have had 40% shot that Mac cuts to

the staff. There are beds, cuts to match. They are not happy at all it

is a real dilemma for them were two good patients. We are very committed

to making sure the people who need health and social care services

continue to get those in a way that is indicated. The difference will be

that we will have specialist social workers and specialist social care

workers who are really well supported to deliver a new model

social care. Tom is studying for an open University degree, living in a

student house and for the moment enjoying good health. He and his

mother both feel that in cash strapped times those with a mental

illness too often pay the price. Gary Page is the chair of the

Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. Earlier I put it to him that

major improvements had failed to be made. So what had gone wrong? We

undertake a review of the service with the county council earlier in

this year, the key thing is that we deliver the service that the people

of Norfolk deserve and expect. They give you an ultimatum, didn't they?

It wasn't an ultimatum, it was, how can we make this service efficient?

The world of social care has changed dramatically since the service came

to the trust five years ago. When I talk to service users in Norfolk I

consistently hear that it takes too long for them to get their personal

budgets. That is not acceptable for the Council or I was so by

redesigning the service in this way we hope to be able to deliver a

battle service with the county council. You so matter of fact about

this, we are talking about a ?4 million contract that has been taken

away. The important thing for me is not the size of the contract it is

that people get the service they need. We think these changes will of

that. This is not out of kilter with what is happening elsewhere in the

country. You talked about what you're concerned about, the 1600 or

so people many of them vulnerable that you support. Do you feel you

have failed these people? I think have not been getting the service

they need. It has not been efficient, and have not been getting

personal budgets agreed as quickly as we should have. I got `` why not?

You should have. We have done the sensible thing which is to look at

the service and redesign it in a way that will give personal budgets more

quickly for the users. There will be concerned from the people you

support and their families that swapping things over will just lead

to more change and more instability, or confusion in the service that

does not provide the support they need. What guarantee can you give

them that this will not be the case? The council have said that the trust

have said that weakening committed to an integrated service, that means

people call located in the same building and joined up. What we need

to do is make sure that the processes behind this are efficient

and delivering a service people need. That is what this is designed

to do. Is this about saving money? County council is cheaper? This is

not about money it is about delivering the best service we can

win in the financial constraints that the council had trust have. You

must save ?40 million over the next four years, the council must make an

awful lot of savings, too, and quite often it is mental health that falls

short. This is not about saving money, if you read what is being

said here, this is not being announced as a money`saving

initiatives. This is about delivering a more efficient service.

Thank you very much. Still with health care, the Interim

Chairman of the East of England Ambulance Service has resigned. Dr

Geoffrey Harris took up the position last summer. In July the entire

board of the Trust resigned following serious concerns about the

way the service was being run. The process to appoint a new chairman

has already started. The region's lifeboat service has

reported another busy year with some spectacular rescue missions off the

East Anglian coast The biggest exercise was the response to a

charity swim off Southwold, which saw dozens of lives saved. This was

last September, the sisters are clothing `` clinging to a marker,

cut out by rising tides. One of the crew on this hovercraft was over the

seeds to get one of them as his colleagues prepared to bring the

other two in. You can hear their cries. This was Southwold last

summer when more than 80 people got into trouble during a charity swim.

For lifeboats were involved in the rescue, one of the biggest of the

year. The organiser in the `` admitted that starting the event was

a mistake. The decision to go ahead with it at the stage we did was

inevitably the wrong one, given the circumstances that then started to

evolve. And take this a wonderful thing but that rescue and scores of

others which took place last year along the coast showed yet again the

critical role of the RNLI. It has been a steady year followers despite

the good weather and the reason for that is the positive coastal safety

messages we have been getting out to our lifeboat stations and

lifeguards. The lifeguards have helped over 10,000 people across the

beaches with over 1 million people having visited. Cromer is one of the

spots where RNLI lifeguards help keep people safe. It was here last

August that one of them saved a young boy, who was called in a

redcurrant. The lifeguards work with lifeboat crews, all highly trained

and committed and from all walks of life. You have teachers, managers of

shops, electricians, plumbers. And gardeners. And it is just anything,

if anyone is able to come down and put some time saved during the week

we will train them up to the coming lifeboat man. This coastline

marketed like never before is drawing in more people than ever

before. It is beautiful, that it can be treated as, too. As another

invasion looms the RNLI teams will be ready and waiting.

People living in the fenland village of Welney in Norfolk say they have

been effectively cut off from Cambridgeshire for weeks because of

flooding. The A1101 floods regularly There are plans to install new

warning equipment. But the work has been delayed because of the

water`logged conditions. Taking a chance on the flooded well the wash

Road, this driver avoided the 25 mile diversion but could have gotten

stuck. This is the 81101 which runs through the mature in Norfolk. It is

frequently flooded and when it is closed it means fewer customers for

this part. It is very difficult, we have half of the village living on

the other side of this suspension bridge, with young children there

are people commuting. It is a long way to commute and its discourages

younger working age people from moving into the village as well. All

four posts tell drivers how deep the water is, but only once they are in

it. The electronic signs are ready but cannot be installed until the

water is gone. It is clear that the road is flooded, but even in the

past hour well we have been here at least a dozen drivers have gone

through it. What the county council is hoping is that the new digital

signs telling drivers how deep the water is will discourage them from

chancing it and cut the number who get stranded. What this does is it

acts very much like one of those measuring posts not rather than

having to wait till you get to the deepest part of the water coverage

to discover the depth the information will be available when

drivers can make their decision, do I feel comfortable carrying on using

this road orders now the time to time around and make other

arrangements? So far this winter the road has flooded and been closed on

45 days, each council is buying the new signs, Norfolk puts the cost of

theirs at ?26,000. It would stop the flooding, but drivers will have a

better idea of what they're getting themselves into. Still to come, we

see the Queen on royal duties near Sandringham. And we are live at

Carrow Road as the new league stars aim to kick racism into the long

grass. Higher student fees and the cost of

living means times are tough for many students in the region. But

today a special offer from Essex University. They are cutting the

cost of a post graduate degree by 25%.

The discount is worth between ?1000 and ?4,000 and is being offered to

students from Essex to mark the university's 50th year. We have 11

higher education institutions offering postgraduate degrees here

in the east. And last year there were 5,750 students knuckling down

to their first year. It has been an eventful 50 years at Essex

University. Back in the 1960s student riots given the reputation

as a hotbed of radicalism. They miss visitors have included Nelson

Mandela. How has your visit been? Back in the early days, a public

appeal for money to make the plan is a reality raised ?1 million, so to

mark the University's 50th birthday, and to repay that generosity, the

University is offering county of Essex scholarships. Students born

living are educated in Essex to start a postgraduate research or

Masters degree this October will get 25% of the fees. And the university

says that could be worth to ?4000. The Deputy Vice Chancellor explained

why they should consider it. Thick new things, be brave, go to the edge

of knowledge is, invent things, and at the end of it, have an additional

qualification to an undergraduate degree that we would hope set people

up very well in their careers in the future. This offer is not just for

twentysomethings, it is open to everyone? Is open to everyone. 50th

anniversary scholarships are something we wish to get back to the

people of Essex. And for current post that explained why they thought

further study was worth it. You need to put yourself a level above

everyone else, a lot of people nowadays are going to university,

doing degrees, and the job market is really tough. Is no barrier of age

to be able to do this, in some cases it is an advantage because you have

a sort of greater depth of experience from what you have done

previously. If you enjoy studying there is always more to learn,

always more that you can get from university. As they can get local

people in doing research I think that must be a good thing. And with

the campers still expanding the university hopes that the next 50

years will be as ground`breaking as the first. In sport, some of

tonight's football fixtures have fallen victim to the wet weather.

But the Premier League match at Norwich goes ahead.

The visitors are Newcastle United and the club is using the game to

highlight the campaign against racism. Tom Williams is at Carrow

Road now. Welcome to Carrow Road. The fighter

football against a scuba nation is high on the agenda. Both sets of

players will be winning one of these T`shirts. The managers will wear a

badge and the is also a supplement in the programme highlighting the

work of Kick It Out in campaigning in the last 20 years. There was a

word beginning with the letter and that some football fans used to

shout at me. There was a world beginning `` word beginning with B

some fans used to shout at me. They do not do this any more. Each

Premier club uses one game per season to highlight the Kick It Out

antiracism campaign. This manager has faced racial abuse. The strides

that we have made in the 20 years since Kick It Out have been involved

have been incredible. We must applaud them and also show racism

the red card and other campaigns have worked very hard. But racism

still contains football in this anti`Semitic gesture has and hemp a

ban. Stan Collymore has faced a barrage of abuse on Twitter. I have

had bananas thrown at me and they think that if they threw the colour

at me they could put me off. Norwich midfielder Nathan Redmond is an

ambassador for the scheme and believes other players have a

responsibility to stamp it out. We must set a good example to younger

players and everyone who watches football stop this is a chance to

turn around Norwich City boss might season and to highlight a fight that

is bigger than football. A spokesman from the club said that Kick It Out

is not just geared towards football's fight against racism but

also against all forms of discrimination in the game. Kick It

Out was set up during your time here at Norwich. Have you noticed much

change? I think the game has evolved and besiegers are in place to pull

out these people who break the rules. I think the game is a lot

nicer place to watch football melodies. We are surviving on a

match by match basis until victory against Hull. Has that bought some

time now? Norwich are a team where if they survive in the Premier

League and have a good season, the league is extremely tight and one

when the movie up three or four places and that is what the bottom

half of the Premier League will face for the rest of the season. It is a

very tough league and I would like to see people stick with the manager

and keep buying them for the rest of the season. With a win tonight, they

can go into the top half? There are five points covering ten places in

the bottom half of the table which is crazy. I do not remember it being

like this before. A win tonight is highly possible and they could move

up into the top half of the table. Thank you for joining us. There is a

full programme of matches tonight but some of them have been put paid

to buy the weather. These of the matches that are off. There is

coverage of all the matches that have survived the weather on your

local BBC Radio station and will bring you all the results are

normally the bulletin. The Queen has been getting advice

from some MPs today. They said Her Majesty should tighten her belt and

find new ways of making more money from the Royal palaces.

The Queen herself was in Norfolk doing her day job and opening a new

village hall. In a moment we'll hear from one MP who wants to see a bit

of thriftiness at Buckingham Palace. That's after this report from Dawn

Gerber. The Queen paid a special visit to a

village on the North Norfolk coast. She was here to open the new village

hall in Thornham. This is the first time we have seen the Queen. She

asked me what I thought of the hole and I said it was brilliant. It is a

village of only 400 people saw the Centre plays a big role in bringing

the community together. There was a great bars in the hall `` bars and

we are just starting up live theatre and have been very well supported

indeed. Only a select few were lucky enough to see hello to the Queen in

person . She said it was a lovely hall and we had an activity area for

games. This visit coincides with MPs calling for the Royals to make more

savings. They say at least 50 million pounds is required to

upgrade while properties. It should be a mixture of their own money and

the money of the taxpayer. What they bring to the country in terms of

tourists and attractions is what makes Britain individual and great

so I have no problem with my tax contribution. So there is still

great support for the Queen on the public and here in Thornham the

visit today will be on the all remember.

So who is it saying the Royal Household needs to make some

changes? It's the Commons Public Accounts Committee. Richard Bacon,

the MP for South Norfolk, is one of its members. Do you think the Queen

is to tighten her belt? It was a special year the year before last

with a diamond jubilee which is why the expenditure was higher and we

see this should make efforts to restore that position because the

reserves have fallen very low. I have been some changes in the way

that the Royal family grant is provided and I think they did not

think that maintenance was worth assessing and I think a lot of

people feel that we have Mark Willis `` marvellous heritage places and

they are worth restoring. Some of the income that is provided for that

should come from visitor numbers. Have you looked around Buckingham

Palace to see how bad it is? I visited Buckingham Palace and

Washington in a matter of a few weeks. The White House is much

martyr. Visitor numbers have gone up and the Houses of Parliament have

800,000 visitors and the Tower of London 2.4 million. Buckingham

Palace is now open 78 days per year. I did not realise you were

name`dropping about where you have been. It was some years ago but

there is no doubt that if we to pay for this in these tight times you do

not want to do it cheap and shoddy job on important national building.

Visitor income is one way to do that.

Winds from the East will come on in the next few days. A large area of

low pressure is coming across the British Isles which means we have

had showers today which have formed together to give heavy downpours,

particularly over the last hour of sole in the eastern half of Suffolk

and Essex. Through this evening and overnight these showers will

continue and the potential is there for these to be quite heavy. I will

be a lot of cloud around and temperatures will not fall to

below. Most places will not have frost tonight. Tomorrow morning

there will be showery rain the first thing and maybe just some snow.

There will be nothing expected to settle and as we go through the day,

that easterly wind will strengthen which will make things feel quite

raw. Temperatures will be around six degrees but factor in the wind and

it will feel quite chilly. Tomorrow night, the potential is there for

cold temperatures. Looking ahead, we keep that easterly wind for Thursday

which will be a very cold day. But look what is coming. A large area of

low pressure from off the Atlantic which will bring a smile that but

wet and windy conditions. That rainfall will not be welcome at all.

For the next couple of days, expect things to feel colder. Thursday

looks dry but it will be quite cloudy and temperatures may not get

over four degrees. There is potential for some showers but these

may well be wintry in places but nothing expected to settle. Any

showers will be likely to be rain. There is a risk of frost but then in

comes the mole which brings us heavy rain for Friday and Friday night.

Wind speeds will pick up from the south that it will be largely dry as

we start the weekend.